There is a chance I might move there (job).  I know that southern Illinois is nothing but clay until you get about 100 miles north in the state. Is it the same in southern Indiana? Is there the same problem with clay, particularly around Evansville?

I grew up in Southern Indians 25 miles north of Evansville.    I never encountered a problem with the clay soil.  It’ll grow about anything within reason.   My Father and Brother are very knowledgeable gardeners and grew a vary wide variety of products.   You can go to some areas particularly bottom ground in southern Indiana/Illinois you’ll find black soil which does produce higher yields of corn but the clay ground has not devalued in price.   Many parts of Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois has sand which is used to produce watermelons, cantelope, tomatoe and potato's

The clay soil is is definitely different than the clay you see in Alabama which looks red when it rains.

Never heard of anyone having issues with clay in southern Indiana or southern Illinois..

Yep, the people we know bought about 10 acres of land in the country. When they went to plant, there were a few inches of soil and then clay.  He talked with an Extension Agent of the IL Dept. of Agriculture who indicated that southern IL was a reclaimed swamp and the clay went up to (about) Mount Vernon, IL. Funny, I always thought the swamp was the State Capitol of Springfield!

I'm on the east side of evansville. I've been north, south, east and west in the city and I've never encountered clay here. Born and raised here (19 years).

If you can get over the people here, you'll find the state has several good things to offer.

No magazine restrictions*

Shall Issue carry permit that covers both concealed/open

No anti-NFA laws, so all federally legal goodies are welcome.

Nobody gives a shit if you carry here or not. There are some restricted areas (Bank, riverboat casino, federal buildings including post office, etc) but for the most part, you're good.

Plenty of gunshops. Academy Sports & Outdoors is my local go-to place on Burkhart. Bucks & Jakes has two locations, both will take FFL shipments for $40 if you can't find something local or want to save some money. Rural king has a nice selection and good pricing, but Customer Service is spotty... Red Ghost Gunshop on Big Cynthiana Road is also a good place to go. It's fairly out of the way, and last time I checked they too will take FFL shipments. Don't remember how much, though.

I don't know of any other shops, but we do have an army surplus store on First Avenue called Real Army Surplus. 50 cal ammo boxes at $5 a whack. I've bought several things from them. Good people. They included a single "purple heart parking" space in their small lot. I've never seen anyone else do that, and I wish more people would.

*I've heard there's somewhere here in the state that has a restriction, but I can never find anything on it. You can get magazines as big as you want all day long here.)

A non-gun related pro is you're ultra close to Kentucky, which means cheaper gas and cheaper cigarettes if you smoke. It's earned the name "Money saving bridge" for a good reason. Kentucky does honor your Indiana permit, btw.

A few downsides to be aware of...
Watch out for the morons driving here. Not quite chicago, but it has it's moments.
The people here are RUDE to the second power and inconsiderate. Just ignore 'em and go about your day.

AVOID DOWNTOWN! Especially at night. If you want to avoid getting killed (or worse), don't go to downtown Evansville. During the day around Wednesday and not around holidays, you're OK, but watch your back. Not much there anyway, except an arena (called the Ford Center), and a big library nearby. I haven't found any good reason to go there, but YMMV.

Those are the high points. If you want more info I can try and help you out.

That isn't good! I've heard from several transplants that one of the worst things about southern Illinois is the people

I live out on the west side of Evansville.  The area in general is not bad.  Send me a pm if you want some specific information.

Yeah, the people here (most of them, there are a few nice ones, but few and far between) are the biggest problem. If you can get over them (and the stoplights + potholes) it's really not that bad of a place to be. At some point I want to move to upper michigan where my mother is from. Prices on stuff might be higher here and there, but the people are nicer, the air is cleaner, and I personally know several people who will let me shoot on their property.

I've lived in Evansville all my life with exception to my time in the military.
It's not bad, it's not great. People are angry here. I deal with them every day.
Some good people but not like you would find further south.

Evansville is a little town that grew big. Still doesn't know how to do it.
Nothing is ever actually thought about before it's done.

Gun wise, it's great!

Oh, if you have any sort of allergy issue, it's the worst in the country here. We are in a valley on a river.

Dave N

I grew up north of eville(Gibson)  Some of our property was clay, but we also lived in the bottoms around the Patoka, White and Wabash rivers.  Other then the bottoms there wasn't a issue?